Booher: Miller appears headed in right direction

Kary BOOHER Kary Booher. Nathan Papes/News-Leader

On his recent stop here, top pitching prospect Shelby Miller said all the right things. Just like you would on a job interview.

He's found happiness, and a bride-to-be, too, the St. Louis Cardinals right-hander pointed out.

Oh, and that week-long, organization-imposed suspension while starring for Double-A Springfield in August 2011? Miller said it was probably one of the best things to happen to him.

"At first, I looked at it as, 'St. Louis didn't care about me,'" Miller admitted. "But then I realized they wanted me to learn a lesson. They wanted me to become a better person, off the field and on the field."

Let's hope he really has. For his sake and for the Cardinals.

Because, as I explained to Miller during the recent Cardinals Caravan stop in Springfield, the former first-round draft pick could be a very good fit for this organization.

There was no need to mention the obvious reasons why: Chris Carpenter, God love him, can't pitch forever, and what happens if Adam Wainwright departs via free agency after this season? Then what? Who's the face of the pitching staff?

But those two clearly had the maturity and mental toughness to find success, and that piques my curiousity about Miller.

In fact, I dropped this name to make my point: Colby Rasmus, a former first-round pick.

In the years after leaving Springfield, Rasmus often told me that the game wasn't fun anymore and, at one point, acknowledged he had failed to recognize constructive criticism. Next thing you knew, he got traded to Siberia, I mean, Toronto.

Now here is Miller, who always has seemed to get it.

Never did he duck an interview after a loss or so-so performance while with Double-A Springfield. Same deal on the night when the Cardinals lifted his suspension, the result of "an altercation at a Springfield apartment complex," according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

But Miller also recognized the way fans appreciated him. In fact, he often asked me in postgame interviews to say a thank-you to fans for their support.

He was, in essence, the appreciative small-town guy - from Brownwood, Texas, to be exact - trying to make it big. And that's what the Cardinals are about.

Of course, I thought the same about Rasmus, too. Prospects can fool you.

That's why I asked Miller, now 22, about his maturity these days and whether he can handle the tougher criticism. It'll be there as he competes for a starting rotation slot this spring.

Last year's baptism by fire in Triple-A - hitters were five years older, on average - may have been the best thing for his career. Yet that was just a warm-up act.

"Don't get me wrong. I haven't changed who I am (personality-wise)," Miller said, noting he won't become a ghost to teammates. "But things are going really well, and I'm staying on the right path."

Good. So if he happens to read the following, he won't make much of it.

St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak, in a recent interview with me, suggested that a bullpen role isn't out of the question should Miller not land a starting rotation slot. Translated, Memphis isn't the only alternative destination.

"I don't have a preference there in the sense that I'm opposed to somebody throwing out of the bullpen, when you have the kind of talent he does," Mozeliak said.

That Mozeliak is leaving the door open says a ton about the way the Cardinals view Miller now. Then again, the GM himself played a role.

"My advice to him was about accepting adversity, understanding that you need to make adjustments in life and be open to that," Mozeliak said, later adding, "There are no shortcuts."